Effects of differential consequences on responding in the analog functional analysis

Direct methods of functional assessment consist of descriptive observations and experimental assessments. Descriptive observations are conducted in non-laboratory settings and consist of recording instances of target responses and environmental events that precede or follow occurrences of problem behavior, whereas experimental assessments most often are conducted in laboratory settings and involve manipulation of only a few predetermined environmental events. Results of recent studies suggest that discrepant hypotheses often are developed based on outcomes of different methods of functional assessment. As intervention efficacy depends on the accuracy of the functional assessment, it is important to determine why discrepant hypotheses often result from descriptive assessments and experimental assessments. One reason may be that a wider array of environmental events occur in descriptive assessments whereas only a few occur in experimental assessments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether including different consequences in experimental assessments enhances agreement with descriptive assessments. Two children with developmental disabilities participated. Results were inconclusive due to the small number of participants, variability in results, and lack of intervention data